Monday, October 4, 2010

One of my stops this weekend was to the Vegan Meetup at Innisfree Village. My husband and two of my newbie buddies (Trisha and Cindy) drove out 25 miles West of our house in Charlottesville to the Crozet area for a Vegan potluck. Innisfree residents that wanted to participate attended. Many wonderful dishes were prepared (my fav being the Apple Empanadas made by Trisha's husband). But I digress... Innisfree is a wonderful 550 acre community where intellectually disabled adults (coworkers) live with full-time residential volunteers and support staff. Volunteers commit to at least a one-year residency at Innisfree. We enjoyed dining with a volunteer from Germany. Apparently when you turn 18 in Germany you have two choices - to volunteer or to enlist! After visiting Innisfree - NO BRAINER - sign me up!

The peaceful setting and kind residents make you feel as if this is the way we should ALL live. Scenic Innisfree is a self-sufficient community that has its own bakery, wood shop, weavery, community kitchen, and organic produce and herb gardens. Also available are pools, tennis courts, a fitness center, and a large gym. The original Innisfree residence hall begin in a 200 year-old farmhouse.

We were given a very nice tour of the grounds and impressive workshops. Coworkers make and sign their works of art and sell them around Charlottesville, and on their website. CSA produce shares are sold to Charlottesville area citizens and convenient pickup locations are provided in neighboring towns.

I'm not sure who that was doing all the dishwashing and cleanup but MANY THANKS! It was a lovely place to have a meetup while getting to know the residents of Innisfree!

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